"In the End" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park, from their debut album Hybrid Theory (2000). The song was released on October 9, 2001 as the fourth and final single from Hybrid Theory. The song was written by the band and produced by Don Gilmore. The concept of "In the End" is mainly about one person's failure at life, although the song also symbolizes broken trust in friendships and relationships.[citation needed] Most notably, the song marks the band's first foray into the philosophical realm of existential nihilism.[citation needed] "In the End" is considered to be one of Linkin Park's most recognizable and signature songs. It's the most played song in all of Linkin Park's live performances.[1]

"In the End" received generally mixed to positive reviews by music critics, with most reviewers complimenting the song's signature piano riff, as well as noting rapper Mike Shinoda's vocal prominence in the song. "In the End" also achieved mainstream popularity, and was a commercial success upon release. The song reached the top ten of numerous worldwide music charts and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's highest peak on the chart, as well as their first song that peaked within the Top 40. It also reached number one on the Z100 Top 100 songs of 2002 countdown. This song also ranked at #121 in Blender magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.[2] The song is Billboard's second most played rock song of the decade. It was also remixed on Reanimation as "Enth E ND". The music video of the song, directed by Nathan Cox and the band's turntablistJoe Hahn, featured the band in a fantasy setting.

Chester Bennington, the band's lead vocalist, initially disliked this song and didn't want it to be on Hybrid Theory.[3]

"In the End" received mixed to positive reviews by contemporary rock music critics. VH1 ranked it number 84 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.[4] The song was also ranked number 2 by Loudwire on its list of "Top 21st century Hard Rock songs".[5] At Stylus magazine, it was highlighted as a "nu-metal classic".[6] At Kerrang!, it was included as part of "The Ultimate Nu Metal Mixtape".[7]NME, however, was more critical of the song, calling it "...another slab of gormless MTV rap-rock from the bottom of the food chain."[8]

The music video for "In the End" was shot at various stops along the 2001 Ozzfest tour and was directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox and the band's DJJoe Hahn, who would go on to direct many of Linkin Park's future videos (the two also directed the music video for "Papercut").[9][10] Although the background for the "In the End" video was filmed in a Californiadesert, the band itself performed on a studio stage in Los Angeles, with prominent CGI effects and compositing being used to create the finished version. Performing on a studio stage allowed Hahn and Cox to set off water pipes above the stage near the end and drench the band.[10]

The music video takes place in a fantasy setting and uses massive CGI animation. The band performs atop a giant statue, which has a 'winged soldier' on top of it, which is similar-looking to the 'winged soldier' on the cover artwork of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album.

The portions where Mike Shinoda raps first take place in a wasteland with thorny vines sprouting out of the ground, surrounding him and shattering into dust, (first verse) and then grass and plants sprouting up around him (second verse). During the time Mike raps his verses, Chester stands atop a platform with gargoyles on the edges. This platform is in front of a door in the shape of a trapezoid. Near the end of the video, the skies turn dark and it begins to rain, and the band performs in the downpour until the end of the song, where the rain stops and the camera pans away from the tower, showing the wasteland where Shinoda had rapped in is now a lush Greenland. During the rain the statues on the tower begin to move.

A strange-looking whale can be seen flying around the large statue during most of the video, specifically at the end of the video. The whale in the video was Joe Hahn's idea. He has been quoted as saying, "It's not like I pulled it out of my ass; it made sense to me." The reasoning behind its inclusion is still unknown. The whale could be identified as a "space whale" which takes the concept that life (or time) is too short for one to absorb all its mass surroundings. The whale also makes a brief appearance in the music video for "Shadow of the Day".

Although there is a keyboard loop in this song, the video does not show Mike, who is a pianist in the group, or anyone else playing a keyboard in any scene of the video. However, Joe Hahn is shown using a MIDI pad to emulate the piano loop at the end.

Due to the numerous re-uploads by different users, the video has over 150,000,000 views overall in YouTube.[citation needed] The video was uploaded twice by Linkin Park's YouTube channel. The video was first uploaded on March 4, 2007 in 240p format. The video was later reuploaded on October 26, 2009 in 360p format. It was reuploaded on the same day that the Warner Bros. RecordsYouTube Channel uploaded the same video in 480p format. It was also used for Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill.[12][13][14]

The single CD was released as a "Part 1" single and a "Part 2" single. They differed in tracks and cover color: the "Part 1" cover is yellow and the "Part 2" cover is red. The "Part 1" cover is shown on the right. A DVD version of "In the End" was also released which includes an audio version of "In the End", "Crawling" music video and four 30 seconds interviews.

On March 27, 2002 the single was released in Japan as a 7-track CD called In the End: Live & Rare. It contains live tracks of "Papercut", "Points of Authority" and "A Place for My Head", "Step Up" (originally by the early Linkin Park precursor Hybrid Theory that appeared on Hybrid Theory EP), "My December" and "High Voltage".

"In the End" is Linkin Park's highest charting single in the US, debuting at #78 and peaking at number 2 on the Hot 100 in March 2002 and being kept off the top spot by "Ain't It Funny" by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule. It left the Hot 100 after 38 weeks. It reached number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for five weeks, starting in December 2001, becoming their first hit on this chart. It has spent 44 Weeks there, becoming their longest running on that chart and it also hit number three on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart spending 41 weeks on the chart, their 2nd longest after One Step Closer at 42 weeks. It also reached number one on the Pop Songs chart for five weeks also and it stayed on the chart for 27 weeks. "In the End" was the 7th best performing single on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2002, and was the 2nd best performing rock song and alternative song of the decade on the Alternative Songs chart and the Rock Songs chart only behind Trapt's "Headstrong" and Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" respectively. As of June 2014, the song has sold 2,555,000 copies in the US.[15]

"In the End" reached the top five on the Canadian BDS Airplay chart and remained in the top five for another month. "In the End" debuted higher on the Canadian Singles Chart than it did in the U.S. and topped the chart three weeks later for two weeks, from October 13, 2005. It peaked higher in Canada than "Papercut".

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand on December 22, 2001. "One Step Closer", "Papercut" and "Crawling" reached the UK top twenty, while "In the End" reached the top ten. "In the End" continued the trend of higher-charting singles when it debuted and peaked at number eight.

"In the End" debuted at number forty four on December 2, 2001 on the Australian Charts. It steadily rose to peak at number four on February 10, 2002. It is currently the 2nd most successful song for the band in Australia, tied with "One Step Closer" and behind "New Divide".

A remix of "In the End", entitled "Enth E ND", is included on their remix album Reanimation. The song features hip hop artists Motion Man and KutMasta Kurt. The song was released as a promotional single with "FRGT/10".

The music video was directed by Jason Goldwatch. It starts off in black and white with someone picking up headphones, interrupted by an image - Mike Shinoda in a car, a flashing image with the letters "LP" written on it, and a TV screen. KutMasta Kurt is shown DJing, then Motion Man is seen in a car, rapping. The camera goes to Mike Shinoda and the video is now in color. The video zooms out to a small screen, then the video becomes black and white again. Mike Shinoda is seen driving a car with KurtMasta Kurt and Motion Man. The video shows the screen again and Mike is seen in color, then becomes black and with again. Mike Shinoda and Motion Man are seen bouncing their heads on screen, then seen driving again. Images flash and Motion Man is seen rapping once again. Random clips are played and Mike Shinoda is once again seen driving, holding an unknown object.